Clothesline holding device



Aug. 31, 1954 HQNN 2,687,807

CLOTHESLINE HOLDING DEVICE Filed July 27, 1949 with the teeth of the ratchetwheel.

meral I8 designates a bracket secured to the Patented Aug. 31, 1954 OFFICE CLOTHESLINE HOLDING DEVICE I Ienry F. Honn Cambridge, Iowa Application July 27, 1949, Serial No. 107,021 1 Claim. (01. 211-41915) The principal object of my invention is to provide a clothesline holding means that permits the easy tightening of the line.

.A further object of this invention is to provide a means for holding and tightening a plurality of clotheslines whereby all the lines will be held with uniform and equal tension.

Still, further objects of this invention are to provide a clothesline support that is economical in manufacture, durable in use, and refined in appearance.

These and'other objects will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claim, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of my invention in use.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a portion of the device taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1.

Posts, crossbars, houses and trees are usually used to hold clotheslines. Some post installations are quite elaborate carrying two or more spaced apart horizontal strands. While it has been possible to tighten each individual strand, it is almost impossible to get the strand lines of equal tightness. I have overcome such objections by providing a line holder that has a single tightening means which is so designed that all the strands will be tightened to the same degree of tightness. I I

Referring to the drawings I have used the numerals I and II to designate two spaced apart vertical posts. Secured to the upper end of the post I0 is a bearing housing I2 having a slit opening I3 as shown in Fig. 2. The numeral I4 designates a horizontal shaft rotatably supported at its center length portion in and to the center length to the bracket I8. The numeral 29 designates a short horizontal shaft, preferably of tubular construction pivoted at the center length to the center length of the shaft I9. This shaft 20 is forward of the shaft I9 and considerably shorter in length than the shaft I9.

The numeral 2 I designates an elongated strand such as a wire, plastic, or rope clothesline having one end secured to the left end portion of the shaft I4 and its other end secured to the left end portion of the shaft I9. The numeral 22 designates a like strand having one end secured to the right end portion of the shaft I4 and its other end secured to the right end portion of the shaft I9.

The numeral 23 designates a like strand having one end secured to the left end of the shaft 20 and its other end secured to the shaft I4 at a point to the left of the housing I2. The numeral 24 designates a like strand having one end connected to the right end portion of the shaft hearing housing. This shaft will usually be in the form of a pipe shaft and has openings I5 in one of its end portions. The numeral I6 designates a one-way ratchet wheel secured around the shaft I4 and inside the bearing housing. The numeral I'I designates a ratchet pawl hinged at its rear end to the outside of the bearing housing, extending through said slit opening I3, and capable of having its free end in contact The nuupper end of the post II. l

The numeral I9 designates a horizontal shaft, preferably of tubular construction, pivoted at its 20 and its other end connected to the shaft I4 at a point to the right of the housing I2.

These clotheslines may be secured by any suitable means or method. When being installed they should each be of a length relative to the others that the shafts I9 and 20 are substantially parallel with each other and with the shaft I4, as shown in Fig. 1. While any number of strands may be used, in the drawings I show four lines.

To tighten all the lines simultaneously it is merely necessary to ,rotate the shaft I4 to the left. This will roll up all the lines 2|, 22, 23, and 24 around the shaft IA. The ratchet wheel I6 and pawl II will prevent the rotation of the shaft to the right. As the shaft I9 is operatively pivoted to the post II, and the shaft 20 operatively pivoted to the shaft I9, any unevenness in the construction or length of the wires connected to any one shaft will automatically be compensated for and all the lines will thereby be drawn and held at even uniform tightness. Obviously the tension on both lines connected to one of the shafts will be the same and substantially will be very slight and well within permissible tolerances for this type of structure.

To loosen all the wires, the pawl I! is manually held out of engagement with the ratchet wheel and the shaft permitted to rotate to the right.

3 Any desirable means may be used to facilitate the manual rotation of the shaft I4. In the drawings I show a handle rod 25 capable of being inserted in holes l5.

Some changes may be made in the construction and arrangement of my clothesline holding device without departing from the real spirit and urpose of my invention, and it is my intention to cover by my claim, any modified forms of structure or use of mechanical equivalents which may be reasonably included within its scope.

I claim:

In combination with a clothesline tightening device of the type wherein individual strands of clothesline are secured to a single unit rotatable member on which a portion of each strand is wound as said rotatable member is turned, a mounting bracket, a first bar hingedly secured at its longitudinal center to said mounting bracket, and a second bar operatively and hingedly secured by its longitudinal center to said mounting bracket; said second bar being shorter than said first bar, forward of the same and capable of movement with respect to said mounting bracket independently of any movement by said first bar; said first and second bars each having means at the extremities thereof for securing individual clothesline strands thereto; whereby each said bar supports one end of two clothesline strands extending from said first mentioned single unit rotatable member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 358,458- Kesling Mar. 1, 1887 787,698 Roberts -1 Apr. 18, 1905 883,902 Tauscher Oct. 23, 1906 840,267 Stebbins Jan. 1, 1907 985,485 Willard Feb. 28, 1911 1,142,148 Cormode June 8, 1915 1,217,336 Niles Feb. 27, 1917 1,363,791 Hundley Dec. 28, 1920 1,844,228 Peterson Feb. 9, 1932 2,486,983 Rouse Nov. 1, 1949 2,490,154 Pearson Dec-6, 1949 

